Blogosphere chatter on smartphones varies by device

July 29, 2009
by BuzzLogic

Smartphones are the must-have gadgets, and this year was filled with news of new offerings, including the Palm Pre, and updates from iPhone and Blackberry. Going forward, there are expectations of even more innovation and competition from the major manufacturers and carriers.

Smartphones are the must-have gadgets, and this year was filled with news of new offerings, including the Palm Pre, and updates from iPhone and Blackberry. Going forward, there are expectations of even more innovation and competition from the major manufacturers and carriers. BuzzLogic took a look at the online conversations around mobile phones, with an emphasis on smartphones, and found some interesting data.

The Palm Pre had more influential posts dedicated to the phone than its two biggest competitors (and industry darlings) the iPhone and Blackberry. Among the influencers for the Palm Pre, 23% discussed the “new” factor, while 13% discuss the promotional video. Sprint was mentioned in 39% of all conversations on the topic, while 8% talk about the Treo Pro. Influential blogs on the Palm Pre include Boy Genius Report, Pocket-lint, and the iPhone blog. (Insights determines blog influence by factoring in more than a dozen criteria, including posting habits and linking activity.)

We also found that the Sony Playstation is a widely discussed topic when looking at the influential conversations around the Palm Pre, with 45% of the influencers mentioning the gaming platform. Conversations like that of TechEBlog discuss the fact that it runs a Sony Playstation emulator better than the iPhone 3GS, and there is the ability to hack the keyboard for better control of the games.

In conversations about the iPhone, the 3G model is the most discussed with 13% of the influencers talking about this model. The most influential post discussed Samsung's Gravity 2, which has a side-sliding keyboard. One other interesting point: the dedicated Apple and iPhone blogs are not the most influential, but rather it is the more mainstream gadget and mobile blogs such as Silicon Alley Insider, CrunchGear, and BoingBoing Gadgets. In fact, the iPhone blog doesn't even register in the top 50 influential sites for the iPhone.

Of these three smartphones, the Blackberry has the fewest number of influential conversations. When they are chatting about the Blackberry, influencers are widely discussing the new pictures of the Blackberry Tour, with 29% of the conversations dedicated to the topic. Eighteen percent are talking about the Blackberry Storm, and an equal number are discussing the applications. The most influential blogs on the Blackberry are in line with the brand, including Crackberry and BlackberryCool.

To round out the analysis, BuzzLogic looked at the topic of “smartphones,” and found that in all conversations, 29% discuss Windows mobile, 7% talk about the Blackberry Bold and 4% talk about a Dell smartphone that might launch by year-end. The most influential post, from Ghacks, discusses the five things we're still missing from our smartphones. The blogs that are driving the influential conversations around the topic include Engadget Mobile, the iPhone Blog, Phone Arena, and Phones Review.

The conversations around each brand present different opportunities on which to capitalize. For example, if you drill down on a specific product, you might find conversations related to a specific feature that would lend itself well to targeted messaging. If you understand the nuances of how communities and specific sites discuss products and apply that knowledge to hone messages, you will be on your way to reaching the right audience at the right time - targeting gold for any marketer.

Evaluation and analysis by BuzzLogic's Insights. Insights determines blog influence by factoring over a dozen criteria, including posting habits and linking activity. Based on the analysis of 512 blog postings from July 1-29, 2009.